Submersible support for machinery



SePt- 22, 1953 J. GOLDMAN ETAL SUBMERSIBLE SUPPORT FOR MACHINERY 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 1e, 1949 lllll 1 fllll Jerome L .Goldman Sept 22, 1953 J. L. GOLDMAN ET AL SUBMERSIBLE SUPPORT FOR MACHINERY 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 16, 1949 IIIIIIIIIllhlllIL-.IIIIII JII Sept, 22, 1953 J. L. GOLDMAN ETA;

SUBMERSIBLE SUPPORT FOR MACHINERY 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 16, 1949 Bnventor Gttorneg Jerome Loldman nd; Leopold, Blum l l l l l Patented sept. 22, 1953 SUBMERSIBLE SUPPORT FOR MACHINERY Jerome L. Goldman and Leopold Blum, New Orleans, La.; said Blum assignor to said Goldman Application May 16, 1949, Serial No. 93,556

7 Claims.

This invention relates to methods of and apparatus for affording a fixed but removable base for machinery in off-shore locations where the water is of considerable depth. 'Ihe invention will be described as used in oil well drilling and operating installations, but is not limited thereto.

'I'he Giliasso Patent No. 1,681,533, Aug. 21, 1928 describes an arrangement which has proved of great practical value where the water is shoal. It is not available for use in deep water because the size of the supporting barge must be increased for increased depth of submergence. As a practical matter the lGriliasso scheme of operation is limited economically to depths of about twenty feet.

The invention avoids this limitation by subdividing the structure into at least two units which are successively placed. In this way many limitations otherwise imposed on design are avoided.

The first unit is a barge or the equivalent (hereinafter called the base barge) which is brought to position and sunk and may later be raised and moved to another location. This base barge is subdivided into compartments each of tially to and preferably above the water level when the base barge is sunk, and is suitably supported on the bottom.

The frame structure just mentioned performs two successive functions namely: (l) guides spuds used to position the barge and to guide it while being sunk and (2) serves as a supporting structure, adapted first to position, and later also to support, a second machinery-carrying barge which is iioated to position and then caused to sink until supported upon the base barge and its upstanding frame.

The supporting frame on the base barge can include adjustable members upon which the second barge is sunk, and these preferably are so set that the second barge is submerged so that its hull is wholly below the plane of wave actions and is there sustained by the base barge. Since the wave action is at times quite violent and of considerable depth, the structure must be adequate to resist the stresses set up and the second barge must be supported at a depth such that it is positioned below the surface Zone in which the violent wave action can be expected to occur.

The base barge can receive and support a succession of different machinery-carrying barges,

for example, a barge equipped for drilling operations, and later, after this is floated and moved to some other location, another barge equipped to operate the well. These two are obviously desirable distinct units, and others may prove advantageous depending on the degree of specialization found justified.

The base barge can be positioned, sunk and later floated by a service vessel specially equipped for these operations. Thus, in extensive operations highly specialized floating equipment can be eiiieiently used. Each unit will carry only the machinery needed for its own specialized functions, and the weight and dimensional limitations imposed on design of the barges will be only those imposed by machinery for a single type of operation. Significant economies are thus made possible.

In the period of over twenty years since the issuance of the Giliasso patent various improvements, dealing with the way a sunken barge or its equivalent is made to engage an uneven bottom, have been developed. Procedures and structures of this class are generally adaptable to the base barge used according to the present invention. The possibility of using such expedients is fully recognized, but it is deemed confusing and unnecessary to complicate the drawings by illustrating secondary details not necessary in a disclosure of the present invention. Where the bottom has a favorable configuration such expedients are not needed, and for discussion such a condition can be assumed.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of the base barge.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof in position prior to its submergence.

Fig. 3 is a view chiefly in side elevation showing the base barge positioned on the bottom and the machinery carrying barge in its submerged position in which it is supported by the base barge. To reduce the height of this view a part has been broken away.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation showing the parts the positions of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic elevations similar to Fig. 4 and illustrating two modications.

Refer first to Figs. 1 and 2 which show the base barge structure omitting a number of details not relating to the placing of the barge and deemed to be confusing.

The flotation body hereinafter loosely called a barge is indicated at Il and has the usual slotv l2 extending longitudinally from one end of the barge for a distance somewhat exceeding half the length of the barge. This slot is familiar in the art and aords clearance for the casing A and the drilling tools. See particularly Fig. 4.

The barge is divided by partitions i3 shown in dotted lines into a number of water-tight compartments. Eleven such compartments are indicated in the drawing but the number is a matter of design.

In Fig. 1 a pump-out manifold lil is indicated and this manifold has a riser I5 which affords connection to a pump used when the barge is submerged and is to be raised. connections from the manifold lli are. indicated in Fig. l by the numeral l@ and as shown in Fig.

3 each of the branches I6 has anintake l1 at' the bottom ci the corresponding water-tight The various branch corripartrnenIr the connection being controlled by a manually operable stop valve i3.

Reverting to Figs. 1 and 2, the barge El carries a number of upstanding columns is, four being shown, at each side of the barge. These are the main structural elements of the frame carried by the barge as best shown in Fig. l aretubular. Welded or otherwise attached to the inboard face of each tubular member i9 is a guide plate 2 l. These guide plates aline on each side of the barge and are the primary guiding means which engage the machinery carrying barge hereinafter described.

Spuds 22 are guided in the tubular frame members l and may be lowered and driven into the bottom as generally indicated in Fig. 2. rhe operation is ilrst to float the barge to the desired position, then with the barge level, lower the spuds and drive them into the bottom. Thereupon the barge is lowered to the bottom. rlhis operation is carried out by opening the sea cocks one for each water-tight compartment, the sea cocks being indicated in Fig. 3 by thenunierals 23.

It is necessary to provide air vents to permit the water to enter the water-tightcompartments and such vents are generally indicated by the numerals 24 throughout Figs. 3 and 4. There is one sea cock and one vent for each water-tight compartment. It may be mentioned at this point that the vents 24 can be used to admit coinpressed air for {ie-watering. It is well known in work of this type that a compartment may be de-watered by pumping it out and admitting air to it, or alternatively it may be cle-watered by admitting compressed air into the compartment and discharging the water through a bottom opening such as those aiorded by thesea cocks 23. Both methods are known in the art and Fig. 3 shows the barge Ii equipped to be dewatered in either way.

The tubular columns i9 are the principal structural members ci the upstanding frame. As shown in Fig. 3 they are tied together by girths 25 and are stayed by diagonal braces 25. The general scheme oi bracing is indicated. Any type of bracing might be adopted according to the preferences of the designer.

A catwalk 2l is carried by the columns I9 near their tops and above the water level when the base barge is submerged. Catwalks 2 have guard rails 23 and afford a station for operators who may control the sea cocks 23 through hand wheels 29 and may control the valves I8 in the pump-out connections by operating hand wheels 3D.

Since the base barge is intended to be sunk in deep water, it is desirable that the superstructure be not unduly heavy. For this reason the i base barge carries the least practicable amount of machinery and the upstanding supporting structure is made as light as is consistent with the necessary load bearing strength.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the flotation member Il or barge loses its stability as soon as it is water-logged and it is contemplated that during the lowering operation the barge Will be controlled by auxiliary barges or by any other expedients known in this art. Since no claim of novelty is predicated upon these means, there is no occasion to illustrate them.

The machinery carrying barge 3l is dimensioned to enter between the guide plates 2i and has at its end a slot 32 which overlies the slot l2 and is approximately coextensive therewith. The barge 3l has an upstanding frame structure 33 suitably braced as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 and like the barge El is sub-divided into watertight compartments which may conveniently rbe arranged similarly to those described with reference to the base barge. No attempt to illustrate this sub-division is made in Fig. 3 but in Fig. 4 a pump-out connection is indicated at 34 with controlling Valve 3b.' cock and a vent 3l. rlhe parts 34 to 3l are duplicated for each compartment of barge 3l.

The pump-out connections 3&- are connected to a manifold 38 and the manifold is connected v The sea cocks on at 'als to pump (not shown). the barge 3l are operated by hand wheels il! and the pump-out valves are operated by hand Wheels t2.

A tower for a drill rig is indicated in dotted lines at Q3. The tower and other machinery not shown in detail in the drawings are mounted on in the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, the nal position is determined by adjustable clamps 45 which connect a portion of the frame 33' with the guides 2 If the barge "il were allowed to cock or tilt as it sunk, destructive forces would be developed. To prevent this I make use of air filled chambers 4E, one at each corner of the barge and all lccated above the deck of the barge. These charnbers alTord a considerable degree oi stability and are an important element of the structure. They may be provided with sea cocks, pump-out connections and air vents analogous to those already described for the water-tight compartments of the barges proper. Since these details are conventional and are duplicates of components already described, they are not illustrated-in Figs. 3 and 4.

Figs. 5 and 6 show alternatively ways of supporting the machinery carrying barge on the base barge. In both of these igures the base barge is illustrated at H, the slot at l2, the upstanding tubular frame members at i9 and the guides at 2 l, these components being identical with those already described.

In Fig. `5 fixed cross members 5I extend between the members i5 at the desired height above the deck of barge Il.

There is also a seal Structural bracing is generally indicated at 52. In Fig. 6 a cross beam v53 is adjustably attached at 54 by any desired means such as bolts. Its position is determined and it is fixed in place before the barge I I is sunk.

It is believed that the operations of placing the barges have been suiiiciently described above. The details shown in the drawings have been restricted to features which are characteristic of the invention and no attempt has been made to illustrate machinery or to discuss in detail procedures Which are well established in the art. As a matter of fact the design of the apparatus and particularly the design of the base barge will be materially affected by local conditions and it is impossible to give more than a generalized idea of the principles which characterize the inventive concept.

We claim:

1. That improvement in the art of supporting machinery OIT-shore by means of a temporarily submersible body which is floated to position and then sunk until it enters into supporting engagement with the bottom, which improvement comprises floating to position and then sinking a base structure including a flotation body whose -buoyancy is controllable and an upstanding supporting frame, until said base structure is xedly supported on the bottom; then floating into position above said base structure, a machinery support having beneath it a second flotation body whose buoyancy is controllable; land then sinking said machinery support and securing it to said upstanding supporting frame structure at a distance above the flotation body of the base structure.

2. That improvement in the art of supporting machinery oi-shore by means of a temporarily submersible body which is floated to position and then sunk until it enters into supporting engagement with the bottom; which improvement comprises floating to position and then sinking in water whose depth, and the maximum depth of whose zone of wave action are both known, a base structure including a flotation body whose buoyancy is controllable and an upstanding supporting frame structure, said base structure being so'dimensioned that when so sunk it is fixedly supported on the bottom with its flotation body wholly beneath said zone of wave action; then floating into position above said base structure a machinery support structure including, spaced beneath it, a second notation body whose buoyancy is controllable; and then sinking said machinery support structure and securing it to said upstanding supporting frame structure with its notation body beneath said zone of Wave action but at a distance above the flotation body of the base structure. l

3. A recoverable machinery island for olf-shore use in Water whose depth and the depth of whose maximum zone of wave action are both known,

6 `comprising in combination a base structure having spaced upright side portions defining a slip and at least one open end; a water displacing unit connected with said base structure; means operable to vary the effective displacement of said unit sufficiently to cause the basestructure and unit to oat or sink at the Will of the operator; a machinery support structure; a water displacing unit beneath and connected with said support structure and capable of floating the same, said support structure and connected unit being so dimensioned that they can be oated into and be conned Within the slip-forming space between the side portions of said base structure; means operable to reduce the eiiective displacement of the second named displacement unit sufficiently to cause its submergence; and means for sustaining said machinery support structure at a distance above the base structure on said side members of the base structure When said second named displacing unit is submerged.

4. The combination dened in claim 3 in which the upright side portion of the base structure includes vertical guides, stop means slidably mounted on said guides, and capable when xed in position of sustaining said machinery support structure; and means operable to nx said stop means in position and to release the same.

5. The combination defined in claim 3 in which the means for sustaining the machinery support structure comprise cross members extending between the side portions of the base structure above the Water displacement unit of the base structure in position to engage the bottom of the displacement unit of the machinery support structure.

6. The combination defined in claim 3 comprising means carried by the said side portions of the base structure for sustaining said machinery supporting structure, said means being adjustable at selected heights, whereby the device may be used in water of different depths.

7. The combination With the structure defined in claim 3, of air-filled tanks attached to at least one of the displacement units and above the same, said tanks being of sufcient volume to stabilize the unit during submersion.

JEROME L. GOLDMAN. LEOPOLD BLUM.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,681,533 Giliasso Aug. 21, 1928 2,217,879 Willey Oct. 15, 1940 2,327,118 MacKnight Aug. 17, 1943 2,429,952 Y Willey Oct. 28, 1947 2,430,014 Hansen Nov. 4, 1947 2,482,788 Moon Sept. 27, 1949 2,515,540 Willey et al July 18, 1950 

